Stream On: Is it ever thus? ‘Gangs of New York’
It’s a little strange comparing ‘Gangs of New York’ to Scorsese’s more famous “gangs of New York” films, like ‘Goodfellas,’ but it stands up.
I’m beginning this column on Indigenous Peoples’ Day (also known as Columbus Day). Among the recent headlines I’m reading are “Chicago gangs clash with Venezuelan Tren de Aragua members,” which reminds me of Martin Scorsese’s historical epic Gangs of New York.
/Streaming /Amazon /😎73%😌81% /Trailer /2002 /R
“What you got ain't nothin’ new. This country is hard on people. Hard and crazy. Got the devil in it yet folks never seem to hold it to account.” (Ellis, No Country for Old Men)
Like Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in Cormac McCarthy’s novel above, we may worry about the level of lawlessness we see in the news every day. But Scorsese’s (Mean Streets, The Aviator) Gangs of New York tells us that things really haven’t gotten worse in a hundred and fifty years.
As in Chicago, local gangs clashed with immigrants in New York City—in the nineteenth century. Gangs opens with a pitched battle between the “Dead Rabbits,” recently from Ireland, and the “Natives,” not indigenous, but who were born in the States.
—In the 1846 Manhattan slum of Five Points, two rival gangs, the Anglo-Protestant Confederation of American Natives, led by William “Bill the Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood), and the Irish Catholic immigrant Dead Rabbits, led by “Priest” Vallon (Liam Neeson, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), engage in their final battle to determine which faction will control the territory. At the end of the fight, Bill kills Vallon and declares the Dead Rabbits outlawed. Seeing this, Vallon's young son hides the knife that killed his father and is taken to an orphanage on Blackwell's Island.
Sixteen years later in 1862, Vallon's son (Leonardo diCaprio, The Aviator, The Great Gatsby), calling himself “Amsterdam,” returns to the Five Points seeking revenge and retrieves the knife. An old acquaintance, Johnny Sirocco (Henry Thomas), familiarizes him with the local clans of gangs, all of whom pay tribute to Bill, who remains in control of the territory. Amsterdam is introduced to Bill but keeps his past a secret as he seeks recruitment into the gang—and bides his time.
It’s a little strange comparing Gangs of New York to Scorsese’s more famous “gangs of New York” films, like Goodfellas, but it stands up well. Set in the middle of the nineteenth century in lower New York City, it was shot on a stupendous mile-long set constructed at the Cinecittà Studio in Rome, Italy, representing a five-block stretch of Lower Manhattan featuring the Five Points. The studio also recreated two full-sized sailing ships, a church, bar, theater, casino, and a replica of Tammany Hall.
The film was based on Herbert Asbury’s 1927 nonfiction book of the same name, with some personal fictional plots attached. The book described the Bowery Boys, Plug Uglies, True Blue Americans, Shirt Tails, and Dead Rabbits, who were named after their battle standard, a dead rabbit on a pike. The book also described William Poole, the inspiration for “Bill the Butcher” Cutting, who was a member of the Bowery Boys, a bare-knuckle boxer, and a leader of the Know Nothing political movement.
In the film, the Draft Riots of July 1863 are depicted accurately as both destructive and violent. Records indicate the riots resulted in more than one hundred deaths, including the lynching of eleven free African-Americans. They were especially targeted by the Irish, in part because of fears of job competition from freed slaves. The film also references the infamous Tweed Courthouse, as “Boss” Tweed (Jim Broadbent, King Lear) refers to plans for the structure as being “modest” and “economical.”
Gangs of New York is a Scorsese epic with a typical mix of history and fiction. Daniel Day-Lewis won the British Academy Award for Best Actor, among twelve nominations; the film earned ten nominations from the American Academy Awards—but no cigar.
Sources include ScreenRant.com and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED).
Pete Hummers is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to earn fees by linking Amazon.com and affiliate sites. This adds nothing to Amazon's prices. This column originally appeared on The Outer Banks Voice.